Last week, we learned how to have productive discussions in class - ask your child to explain the fishbowl discussion. It's been interesting to see how the dynamics change after we reflect on how we're progressing. After we figure out what made a good discussion and WHY we should even practice discussions, we discussed two situations in which there is evidence for multiple answers. We then took a stab at discussing what success means to us, after writing about it. (See some of our answers here.) The goal was to learn enough from other's viewpoints so that we could modify our writing to include what we learned. If we could not modify our writing, then either the discussion wasn't going well, or we were not listening with an open mind.

We then dove into Outliers, by Malcolm Gladwell. We are going to be reading the first two chapters together. Chapter one this week, and chapter two next week (during ISATs). Some of our analyzing will lead to writing, some to discussion, and some to both. If you haven't read it yet, join us - Gladwell has some interesting ideas of his own about success!

Please check out the Genius Hour Celebrations page for some great news from block 8/9, and enjoy your weekend! (This post is done a day ahead of time, as Mrs. Kirr will be at the ICE conference on Friday.)